Merchant’s House in Seongeup Village, Jeju

This is said to have been a merchant's inn (gaekju-jip) that once stood near the guest house of old Jeongui (present-day Seongeup) county. It appears to have been built in the late Joseon period. On a spacious site, the main house (an-geori), the outer house (bak-geori), a storehouse, the gate quarters (imun-gan), and a mokeori—a subsidiary building between the main and outer houses—are arranged in a square, mieum-shaped layout. All the buildings have their roofs covered with a net of straw rope to keep them from being blown off by the wind. The main house, set at the innermost part of the site, is a typical three-bay Jeju Island house. It consists of a wooden-floored hall (daecheong) in the central bay; to its left are the kitchen (jeongji) and a small room; to its right are the main room and a gopang, a storeroom for grain. A narrow half-bay veranda runs along the front of the main room and the hall. The outer house, on the right just inside the gate, has a similar layout to the main house except that it lacks a small room and a veranda. It houses farm tools, a stone trough used for watering cattle and horses, and a money chest used when the house served as a merchant's inn, reflecting both its agricultural and commercial functions. Where the storehouse now stands, there was once a mallbangae, a mill for husking grain turned by livestock, but it has since been demolished and can no longer be seen. Nevertheless, installing such a device within a private house was rare on Jeju Island, further underscoring the property's character as a farmhouse. As a typical traditional house in the centre of Seongeup Village that retains some of its features as both a merchant's inn and a farmhouse, it is regarded as important material for study. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted due to the personal circumstances of the owner or others.

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Where it is

Region

Seogwipo, Jeju

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산